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US kills baby, 4 other civilians in Afghanistan

01 February 2010 22:10 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. US forces have killed at least five people, including a baby, during a night raid which they say has been aimed at targeting militants in central Afghanistan. APA reports quoting Al Jazeera.

Afghan officials say the foreign forces killed the civilians in an attack on a village house in Uruzgan province on Saturday night.

US-led forces in the war-weary country claim the casualties occurred when the joint forces came under fire from several locations as they approached a compound in the region.

The NATO alliance has confirmed the death of the baby and expressed regret for what it called a tragic loss of innocent life.

General Stanley McChrystal, the commander of US and NATO troops in Afghanistan, is expected to issue a new directive on night raids in the near future.

The fact that Afghan civilian casualties are rising has become a major source of friction between Kabul and Washington.